Shelby sweeps R-S Central in SMAC basketball action

There was a ‘stop-and-go’ feel to the Shelby High boys’ basketball encounter with R-S Central Saturday night at Lloyd Little Gymnasium.

The Golden Lions had several blitzkrieg moments with their pressure and fast breaking style, but at other times the game slowed down considerably. Shelby had enough of those instances where it had the accelerator mashed to the floor in a 74-52 South Mountain Athletic Conference win over the Hilltoppers.

In the opener, the Shelby girls fought back in the second half to claim a 57-52 league triumph.

Boys Game

Shelby started out of the gate quickly, charging ahead 14-2 before R-S got untracked. The Hilltoppers drew within 22-15 late in the period. The Golden Lions (14-1, 8-0 SMAC) pushed the tempo again to claim a 41-26 lead late in the half before R-S cut it to 44-33 margin when Jaylen Hollis nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

Shelby’s next, and decisive run, didn’t come until late in the quarter. When the Lions’ Gabe Devoe drew his fourth foul with 3:25 on the clock, Shelby’s lead was 49-40 but even with their leading scorer on the bench the Lions dashed to a 57-42 lead by the end of the period.

A quick start to the fourth period saw Shelby build a 20-point margin for the first time when Mon’Darius Black hit a layup with 5:51 remaining to make it 65-44.

“We started so well but once we found a comfort zone, we had a lull,” said Shelby coach Aubrey Hollifield. “Hopefully they’ll realize at some point that you only get one shot at this so you have to play hard all the time or someone can take you out.”

Shelby trailed by as many as seven points in the second period but pulled within 31-29 at the break. The Lady Lions then eased ahead 43-40 by the start of the fourth period.

Shelby then put the basketball in the hands of guard Taylor Little, who showed a knack for drawing fouls from the Lady Hilltopper defenders. She went to the line 11 times in the fourth period and sank nine of those as Shelby held off the visitors for the win.